Taffy 3 destroyers being added

[UncleSam_163]

In the Battle off Samar, the legendary destroyer group from "Taffy 3" took on the Kurita Task force, including the battleship Yamato, to protect a light carrier group they were with. This small squad consisted of the destroyers Heerman, Hoel, Johnston, and the destroyer escort Samuel B Roberts. Johnston, Hoel, and Samuel B Roberts sank in that battle. It was because of the brave actions of these vessels that 4 of the six american escort carriers in that battle made it out, and many japanese warships had to retreat from heavy damage.

[Jiggiwatt]

Samuel B Roberts has a pretty incredible story behind it, however it was a DDE and not a DD. I'm not sure how you would put her in the game. Maybe as a tier 3 with fast reloading torpedo tubes?

[TacoSallust]

1 hour ago, Jiggiwatt said:

Samuel B Roberts has a pretty incredible story behind it, however it was a DDE and not a DD. I'm not sure how you would put her in the game. Maybe as a tier 3 with fast reloading torpedo tubes?

 

I would prefer to see it at tier 4 so she is playable, with rapid-firing guns. A single triple-tube launcher and her bad top speed would make her hard to play.

[Jiggiwatt]

38 minutes ago, TacoSallust said:

 

I would prefer to see it at tier 4 so she is playable, with rapid-firing guns. A single triple-tube launcher and her bad top speed would make her hard to play.

What does tier 4 have to do with making her playable? It's tough to place the Samuel B Roberts because she was a ship that had the same 5"/38 guns as the Fletcher, though only 2 of them. She only had a single triple mount torpedo, but she was probably carrying Mk 15 torpedoes, same as the Mahan and up. She's also only capable of 28kts in an emergency.

 

Maybe put her at tier 4 with 2 x 5" guns firing at 12rpm for 2000 HE damage? That would put her damage output on par with the Clemson. For torpedoes, you could do Mk 15's at about 11k damage but they would need their range reduced to maybe 6km. This would make her a strange kind of gunboat, but alternatively...

 

2 x 5" guns firing at 9rpm for 2000 HE damage. Torpedoes would do 11k damage but reach out to 7km and reload every 20 seconds. Her base concealment could be 6km in effect making her a very sneaky, torpedo sniper kind of DD. 

[TacoSallust]

7 hours ago, Jiggiwatt said:

What does tier 4 have to do with making her playable?

 

Entirely because it would be nice to use her for in-game missions and events.

[AMajor]

I have to agree with some of the comments above.  There were quite a few Destroyer Escorts in WW II who made a name for themselves, but they were primarily sub hunters. Unless WOWs plans on introducing sub play, they don't fit well.  The ships of Taffy 3 were amazing, but they were an anomaly in the overall navel story of WW II.  Never forget that this is just a computer simulation.  We don't have to recreate every battle that happened.

[Psyentific]

Considering the story and heroism attached to Taffy 3's boats, I'm surprised they aren't in game already. Just clone a Fletcher, give it the right hull number, maybe a little character on the skin, and sell it. Sammy B would be a [edited ]riot in the tier 2/3 bracket. Two of the late model 5"/38 turrets and triple torpedoes would be low-powered enough to fit in, but unique enough to stand out. Sorta like a massively-underpowered Fletcher. Make her a cheap or event premium, a noob boat that gives you a taste of the later USN destroyers.

[Fletcher7_1944]

7 hours ago, Psyentific said:

Considering the story and heroism attached to Taffy 3's boats, I'm surprised they aren't in game already. Just clone a Fletcher, give it the right hull number, maybe a little character on the skin, and sell it. Sammy B would be a [edited ]riot in the tier 2/3 bracket. Two of the late model 5"/38 turrets and triple torpedoes would be low-powered enough to fit in, but unique enough to stand out. Sorta like a massively-underpowered Fletcher. Make her a cheap or event premium, a noob boat that gives you a taste of the later USN destroyers.

  Lol- like the DD equivalent of a Yubari or Katori,lol.   (Or Smith or Tachibana, with those single tube torp launchers and 3" pop guns.)

  How about this?  For a premium fletcher, give it a late war refit like the USS The Sullivans got.  Replace 1 turret with a twin 3"/55 mount (like the ones on Des Moines)  add a bunch more Oerlikons, etc.   Make it a sneaky AA powerhouse.   "park your fighters over me, eh? <clicks P> bam-ba-dee bam! ratta tat tat! no more fighters! <re-clicks P>"

  I'd love to get my hands on a Sammy B!   As others have posted, there are ways they could make it work, w/o going into the realm of fantasy too much.   After all- we have Smith and Tachibana- two gimmicky, not really competetive ships that both have fan bases, and can be made to work.

  And Yubari/Katori with only 2 turrets apiece, awful torpedo arcs, and Katori is T3 BB slow to boot.( it was a training ship, for Pete's sake!)  However, both are fun to play, and can do well in the right hands.  And nobody is howling for them to be removed because they're "sucky" or "non-competetive".

  Imo, the 5"/38's and more modern torpedoes are what would make it work.   I mean it's got half as many guns as a Wickes or stock Clemson- and 1/3-1/4 the torps.  The boosted stats of both would make things quite a bit more even.   Maybe give it better concealment, and a 1 or 2 shot special consumable?  Not easy to play, but definitely fun!   Other classes of DE or Corvette/Frigate armed with only 3" guns would be much harder to do- unless they limit them to tier 2, like Smith.   Or expand the Operations to somehow make them viable.

  I'd definitely buy - and play- Sammy B if they introduced it as a premium.  I'd also be ALL OVER the Johnston if they offered it for sale.

[Umikami]

On ‎10‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 10:46 AM, Fletcher7_1944 said:

I'd love to get my hands on a Sammy B!   As others have posted, there are ways they could make it work, w/o going into the realm of fantasy too much.   After all- we have Smith and Tachibana- two gimmicky, not really competetive ships that both have fan bases, and can be made to work.

I never did care for Smith; her downfall is her inability to stealth torp, only that.Tachibana, on the other hand, is a killer at tier 2; very competitive. Sammy B would do well at tier 3, IMHO.

On ‎10‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 10:46 AM, Fletcher7_1944 said:

And Yubari/Katori with only 2 turrets apiece, awful torpedo arcs, and Katori is T3 BB slow to boot.( it was a training ship, for Pete's sake!)  However, both are fun to play, and can do well in the right hands.  And nobody is howling for them to be removed because they're "sucky" or "non-competetive".

No, but players are constantly asking for both these ships to be buffed, as both have suffered from power creep. When first introduced Yubari was a nightmare of an AA Cruiser. NERF-HAMMER!!

On ‎10‎/‎15‎/‎2017 at 10:46 AM, Fletcher7_1944 said:

  Imo, the 5"/38's and more modern torpedoes are what would make it work.

She would be just fine as she is; at tier 3. Challenging, but competitive.

[Sotaudi]

On ‎10‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 8:57 AM, UncleSam_163 said:

,In the Battle off Samar, the legendary destroyer group from "Taffy 3" took on the Kurita Task force, including the battleship Yamato, to protect a light carrier group they were with. This small squad consisted of the destroyers Heerman, Hoel, Johnston, and the destroyer escort Samuel B Roberts. Johnston, Hoel, and Samuel B Roberts sank in that battle. It was because of the brave actions of these vessels that 4 of the six american escort carriers in that battle made it out, and many japanese warships had to retreat from heavy damage.

What you don't mention is that, during this battle, due to the ferocity of the attacks, the Japanese thought they were facing cruisers rather than DDs and that the Yamato was forced to turned tail and run from just three torpedoes fired from the Heerman, never returning to the battle.

While this constituted a legendary sea battle, as a result, the Japanese captains complained that the DDs of Taffy 3 were OP, and they were all nerfed in the next patch.